From: darwoln@yahoo.com
We are currently engaged
in a fight to stop the privatization of the water system. We are part
of a coalition of neighborhood groups, churches, non-profits and citizens.
The group of citizens
that I am involved with go to the SWB meetings, flyer the areas with
updates, get letters to the mayor and board members, and just generally
try to insert ourselves in the process.
So far, we have not
been that successful in doing that. As you may know, the SWB voted on
October 16th to vote against the 3 privatization bids, (which was great),
but now are threatening to bring the very same 3 bids back for a vote
in the next few months before a "improved" SWB, meaning with
2 new members that the mayor appointed since October 16th.
We are committed to
keeping the water system publicly owned for 2 main reasons:
1. The other cities
and countries that have used private companies (the same companies vying
for our water) have been rewarded with higher rates, less accountability
and generally bad water.
2. Privatization will
not solve our main problem here, which seems to be the need to upgrade
our infrastructure. The bids included language that would ask ratepayers
to pay for any capitol improvement over $10,000.
In a nutshell, no
good.
The SWB meetings alone
are worth taping, they are so entertaining by the way...
So, there is our issue.
If you are interested in talking with us, or just receiving some information
on this, feel free to email me.
darwoln@yahoo.com
Dar Wolnik